May 20th, 2024

Our EME Focus

  • Tier 1 Instruction
  • Belonging
  • Define what it means to be an Art Focused School

Thoughts of the Week

Behind Blues Eyes by The Who

I want to give you another song breakdown. I would love it if you would listen to this song while thinking about that angry child in your classroom, who got the shaft when It comes to a loving, supportive family. They do not know how to process the incoming stimuli and I think this song captures some of those feelings

No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows what it’s like
To be hated
To be fated to telling only lies

I know it is hard to imagine that there are students who truly feel hated and home. They really believe they are alone and that no one knows what it is like… They lie as a mechanism to protect themselves. I know you see it sometimes when you ask a question and their quick first response is a lie, even about things that don’t matter. That is not calculated but a reaction, a learned reaction.

But my dreams they aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

Sometimes we look at these kids and think, “they don’t feel anything”, “they are always angry”. What do they someday dream to do? Everyone Dreams! So many kids have unconditional love, but… for others love is conditional. “If you do this, you will be loved and if you do that you won’t”. Everything becomes a transaction. Transactional love is impossible; you can never do enough and your head is always on a swivel.

No one knows what it’s like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you (you, you, you)
No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through

This is why I always try not to take things personally when kids say hurtful things to me. They need someone to blame and sometimes it is easier to blame the people who care because they show emotion and they get the reaction of someone who cares back. I can’t imagine the pain that some of these kids hold in. You know the kid that comes everyday with a smile and you just cannot figure out why. They work so hard to not let it show in their happy place… Many successfully hold in their anger, while feeling alone in their pain. What do they dream of?

But my dreams they aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

No one knows what it’s like
To be mistreated, to be defeated
Behind blue eyes
And no one knows how to say
That they’re sorry and don’t worry
I’m not telling lies

I think this is the most powerful stanza in the song. I think we all can relate on some level to the things these kids are going through, some of us even through personal experience. “I’m sorry, don’t worry, and I’m not telling lies.” How powerful is it to hear that? I know we can’t always give to every child. We just don’t have it to give at times. I know some of these students drain us and make it hard to have empathy, compassion and understanding in the moment, but we have to. It is our calling, our purpose! What do they Dream about?

But my dreams, they aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool
And if I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
And if I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

I feels like a daily task to “break open clenched fists”, or bring kids back from the point of no return. How often do we see kids who don’t smile or the ones that are worried they will look like a fool? How do we give the metaphorical “blanket” or “coat”? That reassurance that lets them know that we got them in that moment!

No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes



The Coming Week

  • Monday
    • Camp Tamarack for 5th Grade (Ben Out)
  • Tuesday
    • Camp Tamarack for 5th Grade (Amanda Out)
    • Office Staff Meeting 10:00-10:30
  • Wednesday
    • Camp Tamarack for 5th Grade
    • Tonya Myers’ Birthday!
    • Office Admin Meeting 9:00-9:30
    • SIW Lexia 1:00-2:30
  • Thursday
    • Kinder Orientation 5:30-6:30
  • Friday 
    • SpEd Meeting 2:15-3:15
  • Weekend
    • May 25 Chris Hill’s Birthday!
    • May 26 Josh Hayden’s Birthday!

UPCOMING DATES:

  • May 27 No School
  • May 28 Office Staff Meeting 10:00-10:30
  • May 28 Elementary Leadership Meeting 3:00-5:00
  • May 29 Brooke Vossler’s Birthday!
  • May 29 Office Admin Meeting 9:00-9:30
  • May 29 SIW Art in the Meadow prep
  • May 29 Care Teams Meeting 2:30-3:15
  • May 30 Counselor Celebration 8:00-3:00 Downtown
  • May 31 Train Your Brain Presentation for 3rd Grade 9:00-10:00
  • May 31 SpEd Meeting 2:15-3:15

Updates from Downtown

Who has voted? So far, 14 percent of Deschutes County voters have returned their ballots for the May 21 primary election, which includes measure 9-167, the Learning Levy for Bend-La Pine Schools.

Election Day is just one week from today! If you haven’t voted yet, now is the time to mark and return your ballot. You can mail it or drop it off at one of the county’s ballot drop boxes, located here: deschutes.org/clerk/page/ballot-drop-box-locations

If you need more information about the 5-year Learning Levy, please visit bls.fyi/levy.

Do Now:

  • Please add one last effort to your families to encourage everyone to vote. The levy page has information about the levy as well as videos that you may want to share with others to increase information access. LEVY VIDEO
  • For those of you who have a reader board at your site, please put up a levy message to stay up between now Tuesday, Election Day. Thank you!
  • Please meet with your 5th grade teachers and take this survey by Wednesday regarding Camp Tamarack. We need your input to move forward. Thanks!

Reminders:

  • Curriculum checklists: Consider attaching these to your school’s checkout list so that everyone has what they need as they start the year in the fall.  The documents live here: Curriculum Checklists Folder
  • Lewis and Clark Admin Cohort: If you know of anyone who is interested in starting their administrative (Principal) licensure program this next fall please share the flyer below with them. Flier for more information.
  • Packing Up Wonders: Please refrain from boxing any hardbound books as we are finalizing a specialized box for shipment to a recycling facility in Vancouver. If books are already boxed, please leave them as is until the next steps are finalized. Soft-cover books and paper product manipulatives can be recycled in the large blue co-mingle bins or go home with students. Please start this process early so as to not overload the carts.
  • Roger White support: Want to help? Click this link.
  • TLC Update: May 1,  Elementary TLC Update
  • Inservice Week Certified work calendar for 24-25
  • Dibels Testing Dates: Here is the schedule. (make 12 stations, let them test all K-5 kids, clear schedules and make testing the priority)
  • From Culture of Care: Check out our latest news and workshop offerings!

New Notes:

From Scott in IT: Bend-La Pine Schools IT is rolling out a security change to staff Macs that you may need to be aware of if you have installed personal software on your Mac.

There is a new process to gain administrator access on your computer for installing or updating non-standard software. If you need administrator access on your computer, please review our guidance on the staff portal:
https://bendlapine.sharepoint.com/sites/technology/SitePages/Make-Me-Admin.aspx

If you run into any issues with this process, you can contact the IT Help Desk at ext. 1200 or open an IT support ticket at https://help.bend.k12.or.us

TLC Update: May 15th Elementary TLC Update

From HR:

Resources

  • Here is an instruction video to share with your staff on how to complete self-reflections

Important Dates

And finally…

Give some extra kuddos to our Speech and Language Pathologists this month! May is a time to celebrate their often unseen, but so important work! Thank you SLPs!